Thursday, September 11, 2008

That space cadet glow

Last night I lost my rock-concert virginity. To the American metal band Disturbed. Oh, I've seen live music before - of the free variety - standing uncomfortably at the back of the venue (usually outdoors) with a handful of other uncomfortable people and our collective inhibitions. Last night was different. It was the first time I've deliberately chosen to go see a band I actually like. Buried deep enough in a crowd where no one knows my name but everyone is getting off for the same reason, I can scream like a banshee and pogo until my feet burn.

Today I returned to reality and a new Micro lecturer named Paul. Our Micro lecture time is an annoying one - 12.40 to 1.30, three days a week. Students are accustomed to not having a lunch hour, but I've never really thought about what it would be like to be tied by employment to that sort of timetable. Just before lecture time today I saw Jack come out of the lifts with two other microeconomists and head off into the rain for what was probably the first weekday lunch with colleagues he's had all trimester.

Meanwhile the students, not having the luxury of a mid-trimester timetable change, had to return to RH 3 and spend an hour listening to Paul explain simple stuff extremely slowly, apologise profusely for the most minor errors in his slides, and call for questions every two minutes. By the end of the lecture he'd had two or three (better than we usually do, but still embarrassing when he clearly expected more). Yes, he uses slides. No, I don't like it. But he still looks very young for a lecturer.